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Most raw poultry sold in Finland at the retail level is mixed with marinades containing oil, sugar, spices and acetic acid and packaged under modified atmosphere. Growth of Leuconostoc spp. has been observed to cause premature spoilage of marinated broiler meat packages. In this study we investigated whether marinating enriched Leuconostoc spp. in meat microbiota. To obtain a complete view of the microbiota, we sequenced total DNA and 16S rRNA gene amplicons from the microbial communities. In addition, the lactic acid bacterial communities were characterized by identification of colonies. The results showed that marinade increased the proportions of the spoilage-associated Leuconostoc gasicomitatum in the communities as well as the proportions of L. gelidum and Lactobacillus spp.. The proportions of Carnobacterium, Vagococcus, Brochothrix thrermosphacta, Clostridium, Enterobacteriaceae and Vibrio were diminished. Analysis of 16S rRNA gene amplicons resulted in 312 and 284 operational taxonomical units (dissimilarity 0.03) in unmarinated and marinated meat, respectively, indicating that the meat communities were more diverse than hitherto shown. A number of bacterial taxa that have not been associated with late shelf-life meat before were detected, including Vagococcus and Vibrio that belonged to the predominating part of the microbial community in unmarinated meat. According to the functional analysis of the metagenomes, both communities were characterized by high proportions (15.6% or 17.9%) of genes involved in carbohydrate metabolism. |